Theatre
The Cid
Le Cid
Pierre Corneille · 1637
Opening lines
Chimène
Elvire, m’as-tu fait un rapport bien sincère ?
Ne déguises-tu rien de ce qu’a dit mon père ?
Elvire, have you given me a truly honest report?
Are you hiding nothing of what my father said?
Translation by Erostrate
Text quoted from fr.wikisource.org
Synopsis
In Seville, Rodrigue and Chimène love each other and are to marry. When the king chooses the old don Diègue, Rodrigue's father, as the prince's governor, Count don Gomès, Chimène's father, slaps him. Too old to fight, don Diègue entrusts his vengeance to his son, who must choose between his love and his family's honour; the duel that follows in turn places Chimène before a duty opposed to her feelings.
Context
The play was first performed at the Théâtre du Marais in December 1636 or in January 1637 depending on the sources, under the name of tragicomedy; its author only renamed it a tragedy in 1648. It draws on a Spanish play by Guillén de Castro published in 1618, which earned its author, as early as March 1637, an accusation of plagiarism from Jean Mairet. Scudéry added criticisms of the rules, and Richelieu had the quarrel settled by the Académie française, whose Sentiments, written mainly by Jean Chapelain, point out the breaches of the unities.
Who it is for
A play in five acts and in alexandrines, to be read or seen performed, whose action is compressed into about a single day.
Prizes and reception
Regarded as one of the major dramatic works of the seventeenth century, it remains its author's best-known work.
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